What’s ongoing is the most serious world crisis since the 1962 missiles of October. Jack Kennedy was president. He later said he had no intention of confronting Cuba or Russia belligerently.

The damn fool in the White House is no JFK. Neocons infest his administration. His scheme risks global war.

Stephen Cohen is a longtime Russian expert. On Saturday, CNN interviewed him. He was blunt, saying:

“We are witnessing as we talk the making possibly of the worst history of our lifetime.”

“We are watching the descending of a new Cold War divide between west and east.”

“Only this time, it is not in far away Berlin. It’s right on Russia’s borders through the historical civilization in Ukraine.”

“It’s a crisis of historic magnitude.”

“If you ask how we got in it (and how) we get out, it is time to stop asking why Putin – why Putin is doing this or that, but ask about the American policy, and the European Union policy that led to this moment.”

Western officials and suck up media scoundrels wrongfully blame Putin for policy made in Washington.

Go-along Western partners concurred. They created a horrendous mess. Civilizations may clash. Global war could erupt.

Imagine nearby US nuclear-armed long-range missiles aimed at its heartland. Imagine what Putin won’t tolerate. Or any other responsible leader.

The so-called EU agreement Yanukovych rejected had a clause he couldn’t accept.

Doing so meant “abid(ing) by NATO military policy,” said Cohen. It reflects an “ongoing march towards post-Soviet Russia,” he added.

Putin had no choice. He had to act. He did so defensively. He did responsibly.

“(I)f you put him in a corner, you are going to see worse,” said Cohen.

Washington’s Cold War never ended. At issue is eliminating a major rival. Imagine risking war to do it. Imagine with the damn fool in the White House in charge.

Russia is going all-out to avoid confrontation. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov “urge(d) the West to show a responsible approach and set aside geopolitical interests and (respect) the interests of the Ukrainian people.”

He knows what he’s up against. He knows Washington’s real intentions. He knows targeting Ukraine is prelude to what’s planned for Russia.

“There are reports that a series of new provocations are being prepared in Crimea, including against the Russian Black Sea Fleet,” he added.

Boycotts, sanctions and other measures are threatened. Piling on assures escalated tensions. Russia will defend its interests vigorously. It’ll do it responsibly.

Ukrainians must “dissociate themselves from (fascist) extremists who are tying to bring the situation under control through illegal means without shunning violence and open terror,” said Lavrov.

Combustible conditions risk open confrontation. The damn fool in the White House makes it more likely.

He supports right over wrong. He’s geopolitically polar opposite the damn fool in the White House.

His Foreign Ministry issued a damning statement. It condemned US policy. It did so justifiably.

It called for legitimate national unity governance representing all Ukrainians equitably, justly and lawfully. It denounced Washington and rogue EU partners.

They “turned a blind eye to the atrocities the Maidan militants were committing, their bullying of political opponents and ordinary citizens, their anti-Semitism and aggressive Russophobia, their desecration of the memory of heroes of the Great Patriotic War,” it said.

“The West is now allying with unconcealed neo-Nazis, who sack both Orthodox churches and synagogues.”

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is a consummate diplomat. He goes all-out for peaceful conflict resolution. He couldn’t hold back on Ukraine. He forthrightly said:

“Those who try to interpret the situation as an act of aggression and threaten us with all sorts of sanctions and boycotts are the same (ones) who persistently encouraged political forces close to them to deliver an ultimatum and refuse to negotiate, to ignore concerns of southern and eastern parts of Ukraine and as result it led to the polarization of Ukrainians.”

He condemned Kerry’s “unacceptable threats.” He blames Washington and Western powers for neo-Nazis usurping power.

He forthrightly opposes them. So does Putin. So should everyone cherishing freedom.

They menace everyone they control. They’re consolidating power ruthlessly. They’re doing so lawlessly.

They’re doling out spoils to complicit allies. They appointed two unelected oligarch billionaires governors of Donetsk and Dnepropretrovsk Regions.

Igor Kolormoysky is Ukraine’s third richest figure. He made money the old-fashioned way. He didn’t do it honestly.

He’s got lucrative business interests in banking, oil, ferroalloys, agribusiness and transport. He’s worth an estimated $2.4 billion. He’s in a position to increase his wealth substantially.

So is new Donetsk Region governor Sergey Taruta. He’s worth about $2 billion of ill-gotten wealth. He has mining and smelting interests. He owns Donetsk’s Metallurg Football Club.

Eastern regions want the right to elect their own officials. They reject Kiev appointees. It remains to be seen how they’ll react to Kolormoysky and Taruta.

Perhaps they’ll hold independence referenda. Ukraine may divide east and west. Crimea may choose its own self-governance.

Stephen Lendman was born in 1934 in Boston, MA. In 1956, he received a BA from Harvard University. Two years of US Army service followed, then an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1960. After working seven years as a marketing research analyst, he joined the Lendman Group family business in 1967. He remained there until retiring at year end 1999. Writing on major world and national issues began in summer 2005. In early 2007, radio hosting followed. Lendman now hosts the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network three times weekly. Distinguished guests are featured. Listen live or archived. Major world and national issues are discussed. Lendman is a 2008 Project Censored winner and 2011 Mexican Journalists Club international journalism award recipient.

About Stephen

Stephen Lendman was born in 1934 in Boston, MA. In 1956, he received a BA from Harvard University. Two years of US Army service followed, then an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1960. After working seven years as a marketing research analyst, he joined the Lendman Group family business in 1967.